Abyss of the Deep
by animerockchic
Summary: Lovino's brother dragged him to this stupid art gallery and... hang on, where is everyone? And what just happened there? Did that staute move! ?
1. What the hell?

"Come on fratello, hurry up! We're gonna be late!"

"It's a fucking open exhibit, we can't be late."

"I... just want to get there... before it closes."

"...You're meeting your potato bastard here aren't you?"

"...ummm..."

"Goddammit, Feliciano."

Feliciano grabbed his brother's hand and started whining.

"But fratellooooooooooo!"

Lovino began flapping his arm wildly, trying to prise him off while squawking long strings of curses. Feliciano released him and gasped.

"Ve~ look fratello! There it is!"

Lovino squinted at the building.

"How the fuck do you know?"

Feliciano sighed and planted his hands on his hips. "Because it says so on the sign. Duh~"

"It looks like fucking gibberish to me."

"It's in Spanish, Lovino."

Feliciano dashed away inside before Lovino could come up with a snippy retort. Lovino sighed and slouched after his brother, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets.

It was cool inside the art gallery with people milling around, muttering. Lovino idly picked up a leaflet about the exhibit and the artist they were featuring, some guy called Guertena. He sounded like a crazy creep but Lovino would let the art do the talking.

He wandered around, idly glancing at the various paintings and sculptures. He resolutely turned away the moment he say Feliciano hanging onto the potato bastard's arm. He walked around a corner and was greeted with the sight of one enormous painting spanning the entire wall. He peered at the plaque beneath it, trying to find out the name. Unfortunately the stupid thing was in Spanish. He understood that it was "Something World." Big fucking help that was.

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. "Alright, fuck this shit, I'm out of here." Lovino turned heel and ran to the exit. The gallery was somehow even quieter. Not only that, there was no one to be seen. The reception was completely deserted and the front door, which he knew had been left open, was resolutely closed. He tried the handle. No joy, it was locked.

Lovino felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he could sense eyes watching him.  
"Hello?"  
Lovino began walking towards the sculpture he knew his brother had bee standing in front of mere minutes earlier. His footsteps echoed hollowly in the empty hall.  
As he passed a painting of a bowl of fruit, something fell with a soft thud. Lovino jumped about a foot in the air. An apple was sitting demurely on the floor beneath the painting and there was now a gap in said painting. An apple shaped gap.

"Fucking...hell." Lovino picked up the apple. It felt real to him but, turning it over in his hands, it left reddish smears. He dropped it quickly. This place was getting creepier by the minute.

Feliciano had been standing by a statue of three flowers twisted together. A daisy, a carnation and some weird blue flower. "Embodiment of Spirit", whatever the hell that meant. However by the time Lovino returned to it, like everywhere else, was completely deserted.

Lovino turned to go ...somewhere else when someone coughed lowly. Lovino whirled around again, his heart pounding. There was no one else there and nowhere for anyone to hide. The closest thing to another human being was a painting called...

Lovino glared at the painting. "It was you, wasn't it? You bastard. Fucking 'Coughing Man'. Go on, cough again, I fucking dare you!"

Lovino backed away slowly, maintaining a fierce death glare with the painted eyes.

He ran back to the centre room of the exhibit. There was a massive painting of an underwater scene...with a freaking massive shark on the ground. There had been roped off earlier but now there was a section missing. It seemed to have an almost gravitational pull, bring Lovino nearer and nearer to it.

Lovino took a deep breath and stepped past the rope and onto the painting. And all around him everything went completely and utterly dark.


	2. ARMS! FREAKING ARMS!

**Hey guys, it's me again. Most of you realise what this is based on but for those of you who don't know.. let's find out, shall we. Now, a little notice (which I should have put in the first chapter but I was in a MEGA rush. I won't be able to update very regularly as I'm back in school. I'll do my best to update SOMETHING at least once a month but I can't make any promises.**

**But anyway, I hope you enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing  
**

You know the darkness when all the lights in the house have been turned off for the night and you can see dim shapes that are so familiar in the day yet so alien at night? Well, the darkness that surrounded Lovino wasn't that kind of darkness. It was the deepest black that seemed to steal you very breath and body heat away. It was the kind of darkness from childhood in which monsters lurked. Monsters that could see you plain as day.

Lovino cautiously reached out around him and felt his fingers press against the smooth stone of a wall. He inched forward slowly, one hand touching the wall for direction.

The floor began to slope downwards and a small rectangle of light could be seen in the distance. Lovino continued to walk towards the light. The rectangle became bigger as features of the room beyond it became closer and clearer. Lovino stepped out of the dark corridor and into the light.

The room seemed like nothing more than a darker version of the art gallery with dark mahogany wood panelling instead of white linoleum. Which somehow made the place feel even creepier.

Lovino glanced left and right, debating which way to go. Left seemed like a better idea to him, so left he went.

There wasn't much there, just more corridor (with "come" written on the walls for some reason) and a table in front of a door. There was a vase with an unusually large daisy inside on top of the table. Lovino tried to push the table aside to get to the door behind. No joy. He glanced at the flower and then plucked it from the vase. Because, fuck it, why not.

He kicked the leg of the table idly and, despite it refusing to budge mere seconds before, it moved slightly.

"Are you fucking serious? It mores now because there's no flower in the fucking thing? That's just...gah!"

Lovino pushed the table out of the way and passed through into the room beyond.

The first thing that greeted him as he entered the room was a large painting of a girl with her eyes closed. He squinted at the page stuck just beneath it.

"When the flower... something's, so too will you... something away."

Lovino stepped back slightly in confusion. Something clinked beneath his foot. It was a key. Lovino bent down to pick it up and glanced back up. The girl in the painting had opened her eyes and was staring at him with a sinister smile. Lovino snatched the key and ran out of the room as fast as he could.

The corridor somehow felt like it had changed. Lovino didn't know what had changed but he wanted to get the hell out of there.

Suddenly letters appeared on the floor beneath his feet. In Italian.

_Ladro._

_Thief._

"N-nooo, I'm not a fucking thief, I..I ...fuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Lovino ran back to where he had come in. To his surprise, it was completely gone.

"Crap." He croaked. "Now I'm stuck here." Lovino took a couple of deep, shaky breaths. "It's okay, it's okay; I'll be able to find a way out of this goddamn place. Just keep moving forward and don't get scared."

Lovino nodded to himself then went right. He tried to open the door at the other end of the hall. Locked.

"Oh yeah, key from creepy bitch room."

The key unlocked the door with ease.

"Hey look, more fucking paintings. But they're bugs now. Great." Lovino looked down. "And there's an ant."

He evaluated the room before him. He could go straight on in a narrow bit with a sign in front saying "beware the edges" or he could go right and follow the bug paintings. Lovino went right.

Unfortunately there was nothing there but a green door which led to a room with a massive hole in the middle. FUCK. He had no choice but to go back past the edges he was meant to "beware".

Lovino kept himself firmly in the middle of the two walls, said a silent prayer and began moving forwards.

"FU-FU-FUCKING CRAP SHIT FUCK MONKEY JESUS!"

Arms reached out from the walls, trying to claw at him. He ran past as quickly as he could, heart absolutely fucking racing.

He sat on the floor past where the arms were reaching, hyperventilating slightly.

"Fucking...hate... this...place...fuck...fuck... bollocks."

He pulled himself back up and tried this green door that was close to him. Locked.

"Oh for fuck's sake!"

Lovino punched the wall in irritation. Another bug painting, this time of an ant, quivered slightly. Lovino stared at it then took it down. Maybe he could get across the gap with this. He glanced back at the arms. They seemed to stay in the same spot, leaving a big enough gap for him to walk through. He still said another before walking between there again though.

He put the painting down on the hole and walked over it. The canvas tore slightly under his weight but it was still mostly intact.

In the next room was a key on the ground with a headless sculpture from the museum that kind of looked like one of those Power Ranger guys. You know what else it looked like? Like it was fucking _guarding _the key.

"Okay Lovino. Grab the key, then fucking run." Lovino inched forward towards the key and bent to pick it up. Sure enough, the moment he did, the Power Ranger stepped forward.

"SHIT!" Lovino ran back as quickly as he could. He felt the canvas ant giving way underneath his feet but he just kept running. The Power Ranger stepped on the painting and fell through.

Lovino leaned against the wall and sighed in relief.

"This place sucks. So much."

He looked at the key. "Since this is a green key, probably works for the green door. ...Fuck, I've got to pass the arms again!"

Lovino hurried past the arms (FOR THE FUCKING THIRD TIME) and tried the key in the door. It unlocked. Thank fuck. Just as Lovino was about to push down the handle and go forwards, an unbidden thought rose in his mind.

"_This is just the beginning."_

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck."

**Okay, I hope you enjoyed!**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	3. Cat Wall!

**Hey again, I'm back with another chapter :) I'm not sure how many chapters there'll be (seeing as I wanted to be a lot further on at the end of the chapter than where it stopped) but I shall persevere! *try hard face* Hope you enjoy! And btw, there are these 2 male teachers in my school (there are only three) called Mr Barry and Mr Veale. And I ship them so hard. It's not even funny. Think of like a big rugby player (with dark hair and ginger sideburns) and a much smaller guy who looks like his mother dresses him. You have now imagined (hoepfully) Mr Barry and Mr Veale :) ANYWAY story time!**

**Disclaimer: don't own.  
**

Normally Lovino liked cats. He even had one one of his own. They didn't make a lot of noise and they didn't run around everywhere. They just chill in the sun and stare at you like "I'm a cat, bitch. Problem?"

Now however, Lovino didn't like cats. Why? There was a pair of giant cat eyes staring at him from the opposite wall. Lovino gulped.

"It's just a cat wall, it's just a cat wall. Not a cat walk, a cat wall."

Lovino turned left into another room. There were six largish wardrobes in a semi-circle and a not with a stick man on it.

"Find me if you can~!"

Lovino facepalmed. Even in here, he still couldn't get away from the fucking squiggles. He tried the wardrobe closest to him. An arm stretched from the depths and clawed at his arm. Lovino shrieked and slammed the door shut.

He stared mutely at the three long scratches that were slowly oozing blood. He pressed down on it with his other hand, attempting to stem the flow. Only then did he notice the daisy. It seemed to have shrivelled up slightly, a few petals floating to the ground.

"When the flower... something's, so too will you... something away."

Lovino facepalmed again. His life and health in this place was connected to a fucking daisy. This day could not get any worse.

Lovino sighed and moved to the centre of the room. He closed his eyes and slowly spun around. He stumbled forward and grasped a cold iron handle. He opened his eyes and pulled. There was the stickman and...

"A wooden fish." He picked it up. "Correction. Half a wooden fish. Wait..."

There had been a small gap between the cat eyes, roughly where a mouth should be.

"So I've got to feed a wall cat a wooden fish...the actual fuck?"

Lovino shook his head and left the room to try the room on the other side.

"AH! FUCK ME!" In this room there were a plethora of statues and sculptures of various different shapes and sizes.

"Please don't move, please don't move, please don't move!"

Lovino walked forward cautiously, nudging aside a few cardboard boxes.

"Now if I were half a shitty wooden fish, where would I hide?"

He noticed a vase of water on the other side of the room. Just as he was about to reach it, the lights flickered slightly. Lovino had seen enough horror movies to know that flickering lights means that shit's about to go down. And also once the music starts, you are on a one-way train to Fuckedville.

Lovino crossed himself, put the flower in the vase so he'd have both hands free and peeked inside a box.

Behind him came the sound of stone being dragged across the floor. Lovino turned his head extremely slowly, still praying. One of the statues (a massive head one) was MOVING TOWARDS HIM!

Lovino snatched the daisy from the vase and ran around a line of statues away from the moving head. It tried to turn but got caught on itself and fell to the ground with an almighty crash. Lovino peeked around one of the statues at the broken shards of pottery. He crept towards it and carefully pulled something brown from beneath a shard. It was the other half of the fish!

While piecing the two halves together, Lovino noticed something extremely odd. (Even in this place) Both his arm and the daisy were completely healed. He turned his arm this way and that, staring at it in awe. It looked as though it had never been touched, let alone slashed at by a thing in a closet.

"More 'connected to flower' bullshit, right?"

Lovino shook his head, he'd figure this out later. It was time to feed the wall cat.

Lovino carefully slotted the fish into the hole. The wall's eyes widened dramatically and it meowed furiously. Lovino leapt back as a gap form between the eyes.

Lovino sighed shakily. "Can I fucking go home now?"

He pulled himself to his feet and travelled down the newly formed passage.

Yay, more creepy ass rooms and halls. Lovino stared down a central gap the picked up a scrap of paper at his feet.

"Thought you'd forgotten me?"

Lovino looked up for a minute.

"AW CRAP! Not more arms! Anything but more fucking arms!"

Lovino dropped the page and went left. Then a fucking painting spat at him.

"WHEN I SAID ANYTHING, I DIDN'T MEAN THAT!"

**A/n: I'm working on the next chapter for Hetalia the Musical and the next one for this as well, but don't expect anything this weekend. My cousin's off to college and it's my aunt and uncle's (his parents) 25th wedding anniversary. So I'll see you guys when I see ye!**

**Ja!  
**


	4. Puzzles! Damn Puzzles!

**AT LAST, I GOT TO WHERE I WANTED!This is actually the longest (so far) chapter of this. Yay~! I hope you guys enjoy this. (P.S. I advise you to check out poems by this woman called Slyvia Plath, she is amazing!)**

**I o****wn nothing  
**

"Hmmm...a white painting with a possibly important red number..."

Lovino scribbled "4-red" on his hand with a handy pen from his pocket. Because this room felt puzzle-y and the number felt important, dammit!

He skirted around the puddle of spit and the painting that caused it, right past where the arms supposedly were and towards...

"A pair of lips. Stuck in a wall. Lovely. Just when I thought this place couldn't fucking get any weirder, it does."

Lovino tilted his head at a sign near the lips.

'_Beware of lips.'_

"I'll beware them then."

Lovino stood thinking. He could either do something with the lips (shut the fuck up, you dirty minded people) which looked like they'd been around a lot more than his cousin Francis. (Which is saying something.) Or he could look past the arm place. Arms or lips, arms or lips... ...Better the evil you know...

Lovino stood in front of the arms space, clenching his fists to prevent them from shaking.

"Okay, just walk straight ahead and don't fucking look to the sides. I will not get scared this time."

Lovino took a deep breath and _**powerwalked like a motherfucking boss**_ towards the opposite wall. And he did not squeak as an arm jumped out of the wall, that was his shoe. Shut up, yes it was.

A small red drop splashed against his shoe. Lovino glanced up. There were creepy-ass dolls hanging from the ceiling, dripping...red paint. At least, he hoped it was red paint.

He scratched the back of his head; this place really couldn't get any more eerie...could it? As he lowered his arm, his fingers brushed against the lowest hanging doll. It slid from its thread to the floor with a heavy thump. Lovino jumped back, praying it wouldn't move. 'Cause, y'know, that's was creepy-ass dolls in freaky museums do. They move and then they somehow steal your soul and/or kill you. Plus they move like that girl in Ju-On the Grudge.

Lovino inched forward slowly and nudged the doll lightly with his foot. No sign of movement. He moved closer, mentally praying furiously, and picked up the doll. There was another number embroidered on its dress. A big fancy green 18. Lovino put the doll back down and made another note on his hand. He glared back at the doll.

"Don't even fucking think about moving."

He eyed up the two doors at either end of the hall. It felt like it didn't really matter which he chose because the way out would need a puzzle which would need something from behind the other door to solve it. Get it? No? Well, fuck off, it made sense to him.

He went left into a room called "The Liars Room". Now that sounded fun. He glared at the six portraits of coloured figures inside the room in turn.

"I don't trust you. I don't fucking trust any of you!"

He examined the plaque beneath each picture. Three of them gave directions to find something while the other three agreed with only two of those.

He stood in front of the brown painting, thinking hard.

"Why is no one agreeing with you? ...Are you... telling the truth? But this is the Liar's room, shouldn't you all be lying?"

Lovino shook his head, this shit was confusing. He glared at the brown painting. "Don't make me regret trusting you, possible truth-telling bastard."

He walked into the adjacent room, a room with little square tiles and a knight in the middle of them all.

"All right, he said it was 4 steps east and then 2 steps north. Hang on...which way's east again? Um... 'Corsica and Sardinia are... west of Italy' so that means east is right when you're facing north!"

He moved accordingly and pulled up the loose tile under his feet. Another fucking number! A purple 9 this time!

Lovino froze as the sound of major shit going down came from the painting room. Lovino shivered, things were changing from creepy to sinister.

Lovino hesitantly went back into the Liar's room, afraid of what he might see.

The brown painting was liberally covered in red paint. Red paint that looked more like blood the longer he looked at it. The other five figures also had a couple of red spatters on them. It looked like...

"Y-you guys k-killed the guy who was t-telling the truth..." He slowly backed away. "I'm fucking out of here!"

He ran out as fast as he could, past the dolls and nearly smacked into the other door.

"Aw crap! I knew this room felt puzzle-y, just not maths-y! I fucking hate maths!"

He examined the equation on the door.

"Green X by purple X + red X = ?"

So that's what the numbers were for. After what seemed like ages, he finally keyed in the right number. (Shut the fuck up, maths wasn't his best subject, okay!) The door clicked open into a room that was about the size of a decent wardrobe ...and had a massive random tree made of wood in it. Lovino sat down underneath it, massaging his temples and trying to catch his breath.

"OW! What the fuck?!"

A wooden apple had fallen out of the tree and directly onto his head. Rubbing the sore area and cursing, he glared at the apple.

"Just for that, I'm going to feed you to those fucked-up wall lips!"

He snatched it up and stalked all the way back to the lips. He shoved the apple furiously between them.

"Suck on that, bitch!"

The mouth crunched roughly on the hewn surface, chuckled lowly and opened wide enough for a person to pass through.. Lovino peered into the hole, from a safe distance of course.

"Well..." he glanced around cautiously. "There's nowhere else I can go so..." Despite every cell in his body screaming against it, he closed his eyes and walked through.

He carefully peered through his eyelashes. Would you believe it!? He was in another room with art in it! Shocker!

He derped around slightly, looking for a way to continue on. There was only one door which was unfortunately locked. He stopped and sighed.

"Did I ever mention the fact that this place sucks massive hairy balls? And puzzles. There's fucking puzzles everywhere! GAH! WHY?!"

He glanced at one of the portraits. "Let's see if you can get me out of here...Lady in Re...SHIT!"

The whole painting seemed to leap off the wall, the woman's arms clawing at him. Lovino ran back trembling and SHE FUCKING FOLLOWED HIM!

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU CRAZY BITCH!"

He stealthily made his was around the room, frantically searching from an exit and getting away from the (slowly) creeping painting. In the process of fleeing, he tripped over A FUCKING CUNT OF A THING! Hang on... it was a key! He snatched it up and dashed to the door. He shoved the key in the lock and turned it desperately, praying it would work. The lock clicked and he escaped the bitch.

He was now in a little library. Didn't see that one coming. I mean, who puts a library in a fucking museum? Lovino tried the only other door in the room. Wouldn't you know, it was locked!

Lovino began rifling through the shelves to find a key. One book slid from its spot right onto his foot. After cursing it to hell and back, Lovino picked it up and flicked through it.

It was a kind of cute-looking story drawn in crayon about this group of five friends at a birthday party, eating a "Galette des Rois", a pie with a coin in it and whoever found the coin would be happy and lucky. They cut up the cake with what looked like a freaking butcher's knife and each took a slice. A tall boy with a massive nose appeared to swallow the coin in his slice and all his friends cheered. A dark haired boy with a cowlick took the empty plate and knife away. He found his brother searching for a key. The key that was always on a nearby table. A table where the coin that was meant to be in the pie/cake thing was now merrily sitting on.

The boy paced worriedly then left the room with the knife.

The next page showed the boy covered in blood and waving a key.

Lovino dropped the book.

"Well, I'm scarred for life."

He wandered around the room again, desperate now to get out. This time, the other door opened easily for him.

Lovino didn't get far into the next room before tripping. Violently. He glanced up over his shoulder to see what he'd fallen over this time. Lovino slapped a hand over his mouth, forcing back a scream.

He'd fallen over a human body.

**Hey, is anyone willing to be a Beta Reader for me? I've tried looking for one but 1. I got lost and 2. I managed to find some, but they haven't contacted me back :( PM me if you want to be. Oh, and I will give a prize of your choice if someone can figure out who the children are in the story (or who the body is) :) **

**ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	5. Another Flower

**This actually the first of anything that I've written that as been Beta-read, by the wonderful Heroic Panda! Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer:I own nothing  
**

Lovino butt-shuffled as far and as fast as he could from the body. He stared at it in utter horror.

"Oh...God..." He rolled over onto his front and crawled closer to the body. "Please don't be dead. Please, please don't be dead!"

He reached out and shakily pulled the man's chocolaty brown curls. The guy grunted and shifted slightly. Lovino sighed in relief; he wasn't sitting near a dead body.

"Oi, bastard." Lovino yanked the man's hair again. "Wake up, you ass."

The man groaned and turned his scrunched up face towards Lovino. Lovino poked the man's lightly tanned cheeks. Apart from his face twitching slightly, he didn't move.

"Alright, screw you then. I'm going to look for a way out. Lie there and vegetate - see if I fucking care."

Lovino stood up and moved to leave the room, then turned back and moved the man into the Recovery position so he wouldn't choke on his own spit or something. Because he looked stupid enough to do that. A-and Lovino didn't want his death on his conscience. Only reason!

He flipped the guy off and left the room.

Y'know what Lovino didn't understand at all? Rooms within rooms. They just made no fucking sense. Why go to all that effort for "roomception"? Why? This room was one of those rooms. A little room with a door and a fucking window on one side of it in the middle of the room. Again, WHY?! What was the goddamn point?!

There was pretty much nothing else in the main part of the room so Lovino was forced to go into the retarded sub-room.

Walking in, it felt like he'd been transported under the sea. Everything was a gorgeous shade of blue that Lovino really wanted to get his hands on. Everything, that is, except for a few scraggly red petals clinging to the stem of a flower across the room.

As Lovino moved towards it, he caught sight of something on the wall beside the flower. A painting of a woman who looked almost exactly like the Lady in Red, except for her blue dress. Lovino continued towards the flower, ready to run if the Lady in Blue did any weird shit. He had to get that flower.

As his fingers closed around the stem, the Lady in Blue leapt from the wall towards him. Lovino dashed away from her and out of the inner room. He slammed the door triumphantly behind him.

"You can't do shit, bro! You can't do shit!"

The Lady in Blue burst through the window. Lovino screamed and ran for his life.

And once again, Lovino went flying. Over the guy on the floor. _Again_.

Lovino pulled himself to his feet, after cursing and kicking the guy in the face, of course. He glared at the guy still on the floor then at the flower still clutched in his hand.

He sighed and put it in a vase of water on a little table beneath a painting of a flower. The petals become redder and brighter, growing more plentiful by the second. After about a minute, the flower bloomed into a beautiful red carnation.

Behind him, the man groaned softly and pushed himself into a sitting position, mumbling in Spanish. He raised his head and stared at Lovino with the greenest eyes he'd ever seem. The guy opened his mouth (damn, his teeth were _white_) and said something that was probably a question judging by the inflection at the end. But that could have been anything from "Where am I?" to "Will you bear my man-babies?" ...It probably wasn't the second one. But you never really know.

The man asked again more insistently. Lovino, not really knowing what to do, held out the carnation. "Is this yours?"

The man took the carnation and tackled Lovino into a hug, cooing in Spanish. He pinched Lovino's cheeks. "¡Gracias chico! ¡Eres tan lindo!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Lovino wrenched himself free, hissing and spitting. The man stepped back and scratched the back of his head.

"Eh, lo siento, mi amigo..." He said more but that was all Lovino understood. "...Oh! ¡Me llamo Antonio~! ¿Y usted? ¿Cómo te llamas?"

...What? The only Spanish Lovino really knew was how to order food (basically repeat what it says on the menu) and chat up lines that his grandfather taught him - as a serial womaniser, Nonno was well-versed in the Romance Languages.

Noting Lovino's confusion, the man switched from Spanish to Tarzan. "Antonio." He poked himself in the chest. "¿Y usted?" He pointed at Lovino questioningly.

"Oh!" So that's what he was asking. "Lovino."

Antonio smiled. (Holy shit was his smile bright! And pretty goofy looking too.) "Lovino. ¡Es lindo~! ¿Se puede hablar español?"

Lovino shook his head. "Italiano?"

Antonio shook his head. Lovino scowled. This continued for about ten minutes as they searched for a language they could both understand. At last they found a compromise language.

"We've fucking wasted enough time, let's go."

"Go where?"

Lovino glared back at Antonio. "Go find a way out. I don't know about you, but I want to get out of this shithole."

"You sure swear a lot."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Well, aren't you fucking observant."

Antonio smiled. "It's like a puppy growling to look tough. It's so cute~!" Antonio poked Lovino in the cheek.

"FUCK OFF! My cheeks are not for your enjoyment! And I'm _not_ fucking cute!"

"But you are~!"

"Fuck OFF! And forget that for now. Let's find a way out. Safety in numbers, right?"

Antonio nodded. "Right."

"There's nothing that way, so let's go right."

They wandered along for a while before coming to a door blocked by a headless Power Ranger.

"Let's push it together, Lovi~!"

Lovino pushed Antonio out of the way and marched over to the statue.

"No; I can fucking push it _myself_. And where the hell do you get off calling me 'Lovi'? It's Lovino. Say it with me: Lo. Vi. NO."

Antonio laughed. "But Lovi's cuter, just like you~!"

"'M not fucking cute." Lovino grumbled, trying to push the statue. Was it fucking glued to the floor or something?!

"Um... want some help?"

Lovino gritted his teeth. "No."

"But it looks like you're really struggling."

"I fucking said no!"

Antonio ignored Lovino and pushed the statue easily out of the way. Lovino glowered ferociously. "I fucking made it easier for you. I loosened it."

"Antonio smiled again. "Okay Lovi~!"

"LOVINO! NOT FUCKING LOVI!"

**As much fun as it was to write Lovi on his own, him and Antonio are hilarious. Again, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next chapter :)**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	6. Eyes and Hands

**Another chapter of this fun to write story. (also, don't ever go on tumblr while you're trying to do something, you will get NOTHING done.)**  
**Anyway, hope you enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Hetalia or Ib...or anything else for that matter  
**

"...Lovi, why are there two giant hands coming out of the floor?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? And what did I fucking say about calling me Lovi?!"

Antonio pretended to shake one of the hands. "Hello there, sir~!"

Lovino examined the hands. "You mean _Ms_. They're the Sorrowful _Bride's_ hands, dumbass."

Antonio pouted. "You're mean."

Lovino smirked slightly while examining the two portraits of a sad bride and groom. "Part of the job description. I don't live to fucking please the world; I do what I like, bitch."

Finding nothing else in the room, they went into the next one. They were met with a horrific sight. Lovino squeaked and clung to Antonio's arm. **"Ohholyshittherearefuckingeye sonthefloor, holyMaryMotherofGod!"**

"Oh! So there are! I hadn't noticed."

Lovino jerkily turned his head towards Antonio. "You mean you didn't fucking notice until I said it?"

"Nope~!"

Lovino facepalmed. "Where the hell did I find you?"

Antonio jerked his thumb behind him. "Back there~!"

"That wasn't what I... I just... fuck it! JUST fuck it!"

Antonio pointed excitedly at one of the eyes. "Look Lovi, one of them is red!"

Lovino looked at the red eye cautiously. "That... really doesn't look good. Even eyes in the floor shouldn't fucking be red."

"Let's make it better, Lovi~!"

Lovino glared at him. "And how the hell to you plan to do that? And _what_ did I say about calling me Lovi... you know what? At this point, I can't bring myself to give a fuck anymore. Call me whatever the hell you want."

"Okay Lovi~!"

Lovino's eye twitched, but he said nothing.

"I think we should split up. That way, we'll cover more ground and find more stuff~" Antonio moved away.

"NO!" Lovino latched onto Antonio's sleeve. He focused intently on the fabric he was slowly twisting between his fingers, he face gradually filling with colour. "It's just... I...hnnngh...i-in horror movies a-and stuff, people who decide t-t-to split up always d-die a-and..."

"Aw~!" Antonio pinched Lovino's cheek. "You're worried about me! And your face is as red as a tomato~! That's so cute~!"

"FUCK OFF!" Lovino pushed him away. "What makes you think I'm worried about you? I'm more worried about myself! You can fuck off! But if you do die because you go away, don't fucking blame me, bastard!"

Antonio smiled. "Alright then. I'll stay with you. We'll stick together~!"

Lovino nodded clumsily. "G-good."

Antonio chuckled then gasped. "Look Lovi!" He picked something off the ground. "Eye drops!"

Lovino blinked. "Well that was... really fucking convenient." He examined the eye drops. "Hey, bastard, do you ever get the feeling that we're all just... fucking characters in something and there's some asshole controlling everything?"

Antonio screwed up his face in thought for a moment. "Hmm... nope~!"

Lovino scoffed. "Thought not. Anyway, let's fix up the bloody red eye."

"_Bloody_?" Antonio giggled.

Lovino scowled. "Yes, bloody. I like a fucking variety of swearwords, goddammit."

Antonio held up his hands. "It just sounded kinda funny coming from you."

Lovino deadpanned. "Funny, that almost made me give a fuck. Whatever, let's put the eye drops in the red eye."

Antonio nodded and twisted open the little bottle.

"Hold on a minute! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Antonio looked really confused. "Ummm... opening it?"

Lovino snatched the bottle away. "You were about to fucking drown the thing with this. There's a goddamn reason they're called eye drops." He screwed the lid on and pulled the dropper out of the top. "You're fucking meant to add them _drop wise_."

"...oh... how did you know that?"

Lovino carefully put three drops into the eye. "My little brother has something wrong with his pupils, so he needs to take eye drops every day. And the dipshit can't put them in himself so he gets me to do it for them."

The eye blinked a few times, the red fading and turned to star at the wall.

"Well that was fucking anticlimactic."

Antonio stared at the wall. "Why's it staring at the wall?"

Lovino swallowed silently. "One way to find out."

He reached out to touch the wall. His fingers seemed to go through the solid brick. Lovino rapidly withdrew his hand with a gasp.

"T-there's probably something in there that we need to fucking get out of this hellhole."

Antonio snatched Lovino's hand. "But Lovi, what if you get stuck in there?!"

Lovino shook his hand out of Antonio's. "Bastard, I won't get stuck. B-but we should double-check everywhere else first."

They did another circuit of the room, checking every door and painting. Nothing. (Well, there might have been something behind the two doors but they were both locked.) They arrived back at that portion of the wall.

"Lovi, I don't think you should go in there."

Lovino glared at him. "I'm not made of fucking glass; I don't need you to protect me! B-but if it makes you feel better, we can do rock-paper-scissors." Lovino thought for a moment. "Or rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock."

"Wait, where did the lizard and Spuk come from?"

"Spock, dumbass, Spock. And it's a... you know what? Never mind. Are we fucking playing or not?"

"But Lovi, you still haven't explained the..."

"JUST MAKE A FUCKING FIST ALREADY!"

"Okay! Rock, paper, scissors!"

Antonio covered Lovino's clenched fist with his flattened hand. "I've never understood why paper beats rock," he grumbled.

Lovino almost smiled. "One of life's fucking great mysteries. Why paper beats rock, how they get jam into doughnuts, why people will believe you when you say there's 400 billion stars in the sky but not when you say a bench has wet paint on it, why tomatoes taste so damn good..."

Antonio beamed. "You like tomatoes too?! I..."

Lovino cut him off. "We'll talk about how fucking epic tomatoes are later, I'm going into the wall."

"Lovi wait! Hold my hand while you're going in."

Lovino blinked. "The fuck?"

Antonio nodded vigorously. "That way you won't get stuck and I'll know you're okay~!"

Lovino scowled. "Fine."

He gingerly took Antonio's hand, ignoring how the bastard laced their fingers together, and walked through the wall.

**Does anyone actually get the rules of rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock? Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	7. Hugging the Floor

**And for Lovino's adventures in the wall. (Man that sounded weird) Also there won't be an update next week as I'm going to Paris for a school trip. Maybe I'll see Big Brother France while I'm there~! or bring back a story written in French (most unlikely) But anyway, hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:Nope. I own nothing  
**

"Can you see anything?"

Lovino closed his eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the darkness. "Not really." He inched forward, gripping Antonio's hand tightly. "It's just complete and utter fucking blackness."

Antonio clenched Lovino's fingers. "Lovi, I can't really stretch much further."

"...Alright, fuck this. I'm coming back now." Lovino tottered back in the direction of Antonio's voice. "FUCK!" He slipped on some kind of ball on the floor, released Antonio's hand and fell flat on the ground.

"LOVINO! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?! Lovino!"

Lovino felt around for whatever he'd fallen over. "Yeah, I'm okay. I fucking slipped on something."

"Oh. Did you fall?"

Lovino gritted his teeth. "No. I hugged the floor because it looked lonely. Aha! Found you, fucker!"

"...wait, what?"

Lovino picked up the little ball. "I found the fucking thing I fell over." He pulled himself to his feet. "I'm coming out now." He stepped out of the wall and into Antonio's arms.

"LOVI~! I was so worried; I thought I'd never see your cute little face again!"

"CAN'T. FUCKING. BREATHE!"

Antonio released him, grinning stupidly with relief. Lovino clutched his chest, still struggling for air. Having gotten some back, he uncurled his fingers, leaving the ball to glint a dull ruby in the light. "What's that?" Antonio asked.

Lovino raised it up to eyelevel. "What I fell over."

Antonio poked it. "It doesn't look big enough to fall over."

Lovino fixed him with a glare. "Well it fucking _was_, bastard." He rolled it around in his palm. "What are we meant to do with it anyway?"

"Good question. Let's take a look around and see if it fits anywhere~."

Lovino sighed. "We've been around this fucking room twice already. What makes you think a third time will be different?"

Antonio beamed. "But, Lovi~! This time we're looking for something pacific!"

"Specific, idiot. And for the first fucking time, you're _actually_ making sense."

"Yay~!" They wandered around the room again, searching for something they could use the glass ball for. "Lovi! What about this?" Antonio pointed up at the empty eye socket of a painted snake.

"Alright then, bastard. Can you reach it?"

Antonio took the ball, stretched as high as he could onto his toes and carefully slotted the ball into place. A smaller painting hanging nearby fell from its hook and onto the floor with a bang. Lovino jumped and clutched Antonio. "It's okay, Lovi. It's just a painting."

Lovino detached himself from Antonio. "F-fuck off! I knew that! Of course I did!"

Antonio picked up the painting and examined it. "Hey, there's writing on the back~! 'Behind the big tree'. But there isn't a tree in here, Lovi – trees grow outside!"

Lovino clapped very, _very _slowly, a completely blank expression adorning his face. "Well fucking done, genius. Would you like a gold star?"

"Yes please~"

"Well too fucking bad, I'm all out." Lovino took the painting and put it back down. "There's probably a fucking sculpture _of_ a tree somewhere. Probably behind one of the doors that won't open."

Antonio, having not paid attention to half of that, pointed excitedly over Lovino's shoulder. "Look, Lovi, one of the doors is open now!"

Lovino followed Antonio's finger with his eyes "When the fuck did that happen?" Antonio shrugged and skipped over towards the door. Lovino followed him in a much more subdued way. Halfway there, he froze staring at the wall. "A-A-A-Antonio! W-what is that?!"

Antonio wandered back to Lovino. "What's what, Lovi? Is something wr..." Antonio's jaw dropped at the horrifying melty face that had appeared in the wall. He took half a shuffling step towards it.

"...mmm...want flower...flower yummy..." Lovino grabbed Antonio's hand. "I can...has flower? ...Flower good..."

"Don't even _think_ about fucking giving it your flower." Lovino hissed into Antonio's ear.

"...give...flower...hungry..."

Antonio closed his mouth and nodded, carefully steering the two of them towards the recently opened door. Once a slightly safer distance from the face they sprinted towards the open door and slammed it behind them. Antonio slid down the door onto the floor. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, panting. Lovino sat down too and rested his forehead on Antonio's shoulder, breathing heavily. "Holy...fuck...ing...God."

Antonio nodded, unable to speak. They sat there, letting their breathing and heart-rates return to relatively normal rates. Antonio shook Lovino's shoulder gently. "Hey, Lovi."

Lovino grunted.

"You were right. There's a big tree sculpture in here."

Lovino smirked into Antonio's shoulder. "Told you so."

**This is the second thing I've ended with "Told you so." Kinda weird... anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	8. Ring a Ring o' Roses

**tada~! New chapter. I'm back from France and everyone in France is just like him. FUCKING FABULOUS! I JUST ... GAH! *hides in depressed corner* Anyway, I hope ye enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Own Hetalia and Ib, I do not  
**

"Wait one fucking minute! How long have we been holding hands?!" Lovino wrenched his hand from Antonio's and wiped it on his trousers. "I don't want your stupid bastard germs!"

"But Lovi~! I liked holding hands with you. Your hands are so small and cute~!"

"Don't 'but Lovi~!' me, jerk! And fuck off with your hand holding! And one more thing; _I'm not fucking cute!_" Lovino sprang to his feet snarling.

"Lovi~" Antonio pouted and held out his hands. "Pull me up?"

"...No."

"Please~?"

"Fuck no."

Antonio stood up unassisted, still pouting though in a slightly more sulky way. Lovino turned back to face him. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

Lovino folded his arms. "Looking like a dying hen because I wouldn't pull you up, lazy-ass. I...I'm not good at this, okay? Having someone around who doesn't seem to give a fuck about how I'm... well... me."

Antonio wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "What do you mean? Why would someone not want to be around you?"

Lovino scoffed bitterly. "People don't want a crap doodle when they can have a masterpiece. Which is what I am compared to my little brother, as most people see us."

Lovino turned and walked over to the tree, avoiding Antonio's eye. Antonio moved behind him and wrapped his arms around Lovino's waist. "I prefer a doodle over a masterpiece any day – masterpieces are overrated. I like things like geodes best. They look like normal rocks on the outside, but on the inside, they're just so beautiful. They just hide their beauty with a tough outside."

Lovino's ears flushed a deep red and Antonio was sure his face was a similar shade.

"Lovi, let's see what's behind the tree, 'kay?"

"...right."

Antonio ducked under a branch and behind the tree. "Hey, look! There's something sparkly under here!" Antonio knelt down to pick it up.

Lovino smiled wanly, scrubbing his eyes slightly. "Thought you might like shiny shit."

Antonio held it up to Lovino. "Look, Lovi, I found a ring~!"

Lovino's face flushed a deep red once again. "J-just get the fuck up, bastard!"

Antonio stood up. "What's wrong, mi tomate?"

Lovino puffed out his cheeks in irritation and looked away. "You looked like you were proposing to your girlfriend or something."

Antonio raised an eyebrow humorously. "Would you like me to propose to you, Lovi?"

"_Fuck no!_ And you fucking dare call me your girlfriend! I'm a guy, fuckwit!"

Antonio pouted. "Would you like to be my _guy_-friend then?"

"_No!_ That sounds painfully gay!"

"'Kay." Antonio twirled the ring around his fingers. "What should I do with it then?"

"I don't fucking know, give it to a bride...or ... Hang on..."

"Lovi? What's wrong? Your face has gone kinda weird."

Lovino covered his mouth with his hand. "Of course... that's it! That's fucking it!"

"What's it?"

"The ring goes on a bride's hand!"

Antonio wrinkled up his forehead. "But, Lovi – neither of us are girls, so we can't be brides."

Lovino glared at him. "We're not fucking girls, but the Sorrowful Bride is."

"Who?"

Lovino facepalmed. "Remember the hands in the floor you were shaking earlier? They were the Sorrowful Bride's hands."

"Oh~!"

Lovino laughed. "And so, the hamster in your brain finally gets to work."

Antonio blinked. "I have a _hamster_ in my brain?"

Lovino facepalmed again. "No. There is no hamster in your brain. There is absolutely fuck all in your brain."

Antonio smiled in relief. "That's good."

Lovino made some indescribable low noises of rage then massaged his temples tiredly. "Right then. Can we go put the goddamn ring on the bride's hand now?"

They left the room, following the route that would take them the furthest from the melty wall face and arrived back in room where the bride and groom were. Antonio examined the hands carefully. "So which finger do we put the ring on?"

Lovino looked at him. "You don't know? Have you ever seen which finger you mother fucking wears it on?"

Antonio stayed focused on the hands. "No. She hasn't worn it since my parents got divorced. And they've been split up for as long as I can remember."

"Oh." Lovino looked down and scuffed his tow against the floor awkwardly. "I-I'm sorry."

Antonio looked up at him and smiled. "Don't be. It's alright." There was silence for a moment before Antonio spoke again in a much brighter tone. "So! Which finger does it go on, Lovi?"

"The fourth finger on the left hand." Lovino pointed to it.

"Why? Why that one?"

Lovino thought for a moment. "My nonno once told me that there's meant to be a vein leading directly from that finger to the heart."

"Nonno?"

"Grandfather."

"Oh." Antonio smiled softly. "That's really romantic."

Lovino sighed. "Yeah, but it's probably not even true. Look, let's just put the damn thing on already."

Antonio slid the ring onto the left ring finger. Then something whacked the back of Lovino's head. He dived for it clumsily and caught it just before it hit the ground. Lovino held it up questioningly. "A bouquet? Really? Where the fuck did this come from?!"

Antonio pointed over his shoulder. "She threw it to you~!" Lovino turned back to face the Sorrowful Bride painting. "You caught the flowers Lovi~! You're gonna get married~!"

Lovino swatted him with the bouquet. "Shut up, ass. I'm not getting married any damn time soon." He examined the flowers carefully. "What the hell are we meant to do with these anyway? Eat 'em?"

Antonio shrugged. "Or maybe feed them to Señor Creepy Wall Face."

Lovino clicked his fingers and pointed at Antonio. "Yes. Yes! Fuck yes! That's what we do!"

"...Really?"

"C'mon!" Lovino grabbed Antonio's wrist and dragged him back to the melty wall face.

"Lovi, are you really sure about this? Really, _really _sure?" Antonio whispered uncomfortably

Lovino squeezed Antonio's wrist gently. "I'm positive, Antonio."

Lovino made to let go of Antonio, but he quickly snatched Lovino's hand back and interlaced their fingers together. Antonio smiled slightly. "Safety in numbers, remember?"

Lovino nodded, a slight smile playing around his mouth. "Right." He carefully moved closer to the face, holding out the bouquet. The face sniffed hungrily.

"Flowers...? Flowers...good...so good."

Lovino gradually fed the flowers into its mouth. It swallowed loudly and vanished, leaving behind an opening. They stared into the darkness cautiously. "Lovi, do you think it's safe?"

Lovino took a step towards it. "Nothing in this hellhole is fucking safe but it's our only way forward, and hopefully out." He looked back at Antonio. "Just keep moving forward. Trust me."

Antonio smiled and squeezed Lovino's hand. "I trust you."

Lovino nodded. "Then let's go."

They walked hand in hand through the opening.

**D'aww would'ya look at 'em! WEll, I hope you enjoyed~!**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic (Awkward moment when you almost write Antonio instead of your username! :D)  
**


	9. But Numbers!

**...hi. OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY! LIFE AND SCHOOL JUST NO! AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH. ahem. Yes. I've returned with a chapter and hopefully more time to update and write now. Hopefully.**

**Disclaimer: Do I own Hetalia? lol no.  
**

"Lovi, is it just me, or does this room seem darker than all the others?"

Lovino nodded. "Yeah – and colder." He shivered slightly. "I fucking hate it."

Antonio took both of Lovino's hands between his own and gently rubbed them together, pausing occasionally to blow warm air on them. After a few minutes, Antonio stopped and smiled at Lovino. "Is this better?"

Lovino took his hands away. "I guess." He looked away briskly then glanced back almost shyly. "Thanks, bastard."

Antonio smiled again the pointed at one of the paintings on the wall. "Hey Lovi, isn't she pretty?" Lovino turned to look at the painting then clapped his hand over his mouth, holding in a scream.

"Lovi, what's wrong?"

Lovino pointed a shaking hand at the painting. "Fucking...Lady in Red and Blue..."

Antonio tilted his head in confusion. "But she's wearing green."

Lovino's eyebrow twitched. "I can fucking see that. But there were paintings just like her in red and blue that jump out and chase you. So get the fuck away!"

Antonio took a step back. "Will she chase me now?"

"Only if you get too close, dumbass. Let's go look somewhere else and stay the fuck away from those paintings!"

"Hey!" Antonio ran across the room. "A door!"

Lovino followed him over. "Does it open?"

Antonio jiggled the handle. "...um."

Lovino moved Antonio's hand aside. "It's a combination lock. So we need a four digit number." Lovino stood back and planted his hands on his hips. "Where the hell are we meant to find that?"

"Let's start guessing~!"

Lovino facepalmed. "Do you have any fucking idea what the odds of that are? There's bound to be _something_ around here with a clue."

Antonio started fiddling with the dials. "I still think I can guess it."

Lovino waved a hand dismissively. "Knock yourself out. Meanwhile, I'm going to do the smart thing. Ciao." Lovino began walking away then stopped, walked back and began dragging Antonio along with him.

"Lovi! What are you doing?"

Lovino scowled and released him. "You were such a fucking sitting duck over there! Anything could have come along and attacked/raped your sexy Spanish ass! Dipshit!"

Antonio quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "You think my ass is sexy?"

Lovino twitched. "Hell no."

"But you just said..."

"Some fucked up thing in here _might_ find it sexy. I sure as hell don't."

"Lovi..."

"I do not want to talk about your ass anymore. This conversation is over."

"Yeah, but Lovi –"

"OVER!"

Antonio mimed zipping his mouth closed and stared around idly. Lovino sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "You don't have to shut up. You... you dummy. I just...don't feel comfortable talking about your ass."

"Asses in general, or just mine?"

"Human anatomy in general. That's the _body_, doofus."

Antonio tilted his head. "Why?"

Lovino chewed on the edge of his thumb, thinking. "...I actually haven't a fucking clue. With the last year and a half, I've just been 'Human body? All aboard the nope-train to Fuck-that-Shitville.'"

Antonio shrugged. "Maybe you're just deep in the closet and you haven't realized."

Lovino seemed to spasm violently. "_WHAT THE FUCK MAKES YOU SAY THAT?!_"

Antonio held up his hand. "Calm down, Lovi. I'm just saying it might be because women don't interest you, and you're scared to like men. I'm not saying it's true, but I know people like that."

Lovino turned his face away. "Whatever. You're just talking out of your ass."

Antonio opened his mouth to respond then closed it again. The corner of Lovino's mouth twitched slightly. "Right then, bastard. Let's get looking."

Antonio pointed at the wall behind Lovino. "Would those be the numbers we're looking for?"

Lovino looked back over his shoulder. There was a painting of a man hanging upside down with the numbers 5629 in digital clock style on his shirt. Lovino jerked his thumb at it.

"How long has that been there?"

"Ummm... always?"

Lovino said nothing but pulled out a pen and copied the numbers down exactly, all clock-y and line-y, onto his hand. "Come on, let's key this fucker in." They walked back to the door and Lovino dialled in the number. Antonio pushed down the handle.

Nothing. Absolutely fuck all.

Lovino kicked the door in utter fury. "FUCK! OPEN FUCKER!"

Antonio took Lovino's wrists. "Lovi. Lovi. Calm. Calm down."

Lovino pulled his hands away. "But why isn't it fucking opening?! Dammit!" Lovino began pacing. "What's wrong with this?! Why would there be numbers if they're fucking _wrong_!?"

Antonio grabbed Lovino's hands again and forced him to look at him. "Lovino! We'll figure this out. Together, okay?"

Lovino took a deep breath. "I guess."

Antonio smiled. "Bueno. Now, what were the numbers again?" Lovino held out his hand to Antonio. Antonio took it and twisted it slightly, frowning in confusion. After looking between Lovino and his hand for about ten minutes, Antonio pointed back at the door. "You typed in 5629, right?"

Lovino narrowed his eyes slightly. "...yes"

"It looks like 6295 from here."

Lovino snatched back his hand and stared at it, turning his hand this way and that. He looked back to Antonio, eyes shining. "You genius! You fucking _genius_! Forget everything I said about you being an idiot! Absolutely _everything_!" Lovino keyed in the new code. The door clicked open easily. Lovino jumped up and shouted, spinning around on the ball of his foot. Antonio inwardly _'squeed'_ at the cuteness. Lovino finished his spin and pushed open the door. "A maze made of tables? Really? That's the _best_ they could come up with?"

"Let's go through the maze, Lovi~!" Antonio began winding his way between the tables. Lovino watched him for a moment, then climbed up on the tables, walking along the tops. "Lovi, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm fucking doing? I'm walking on the tables."

"But...why?"

Lovino shrugged. "Why the fuck not?" He pointed across the tables. "I think there's a key over there! Go get it!"

"Can't you get it?"

"You're fucking closer."

"Fine~"

Lovino jumped off the table as Antonio continued picking through the tables towards the key. "Hey Lovi, there's a key over here!"

"Told you so!" Lovino shouted back.

"And look Lovi, there's a paintbrush floating in mid-air next to this painting thingy!"

"What?" Lovino crossed the room to Antonio. "Well, fuck me. So there is."

Antonio sniffed. "Is it just me, or does it smell like maple syrup over here?"

"It's just you, bastard. Now let's keep going."

Antonio glanced back at the easel and floating paintbrush before following Lovino out of the room. Just as he closed the door, Antonio could have sworn he hear someone sigh and say, "Why does no one see me, Kuma?" But ..._nah_. There was no one in sight.

**A/n *author is shot* I'm not even sorry about that last bit. And just to let you know, I've managed to get a hold of mp3 files of Overflowing Passion and Roma Antiqua. DFKJDSFKJLNDRA;JHRA ROME AND THE BTT I CANNOT EVEN!**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	10. In the Dark Dark Room

**#So this is Christmas, and what have you done?# I can't believe that it's nearly Christmas (and that the Doctor saved the world again and also that it's not butter but *hit by brick*) YAAAAAAAAAAAAY~ HAPPY CHRISTAMS TO EVERYONE~! *THROWS SWEETS LIKE IN A PANTO AT READERS***

**Disclaimer: I may get a DVD of Hetalia for Christmas but I sure as hell don't own it.  
**

"So, where to now?"

Lovino glanced around. "That way? There's a door over there."

They crossed the vast room, over to the door that Lovino had indicated towards. Antonio stuck the key in the lock and turned it. The door slid open easily; they both peered into the even deeper darkness of the room beyond. "Can you see anything, Lovi?" Even though they were the only two there, Antonio still felt the need to whisper.

Lovino squinted hard. "There's something in the very end, but I haven't got a fucking clue what it is."

"Should we go look?"

Lovino stayed holding the door open with his foot. "Can we find something to prop this fucker open first? I sure as hell don't want to get stuck in there." He pushed a convenient table in front of the door to prop it open. "Now we can go in."

Antonio bit his lip. "Ummm... Okay."

Lovino frowned at him. "Bastard, what's wrong with you?"

Antonio laughed, slightly more shakily than normal. "Ahaha, no no, I'm fine, Lovi!"

Lovino raised a dubious eyebrow. "You sure?" The Spaniard nodded. Lovino glanced back in the door. "If you're sure... Come on then." Lovino walked in and stopped after about a metre to stare at Antonio. "You coming or what, bastard?"

Antonio ran in beside him. "O-oh yeah! Wouldn't let Lovi go in all by himself!"

Lovino stared at him thoughtfully. "You're not afraid of the dark – are you?"

Antonio laughed. "N-no, of course not." The door flew closed with a loud bang, plunging them into pitch black. An unearthly shriek rang through the room and something large and warm latched onto Lovino. Lovino screamed and batted it away.

"L-L-L-Lovi?"

Lovino groped around in the darkness and found Antonio's hand. He gripped it tightly. "I'm here."

He could feel Antonio's hand shaking in his own. "D-d-d-d-don't leave."

Lovino rubbed the back of Antonio's hand with his thumb. "Don't worry, I won't leave you. I'm not letting go."

"P-promise?"

Lovino twisted his hand to link their pinkies. "Promise." They continued walking along the length of the room. As Lovino had said, they might as well see what was at the other end since they were already in there. Antonio just squeezed Lovino's hand and mumbled in agreement.

Suddenly two candelabras on either side of the narrow room flickered into light, revealing a large ornate mirror on the wall. Antonio visibly relaxed the moment the lights came on. Lovino let go of his hand and began examining a candelabra. Another shout from Antonio sent him spinning around again.

Antonio was facing away from him, chuckling darkly at a mannequin head that had appeared out of nowhere. He picked it up and began whispering to it in a dark and threatening voice. "You little fucker – you were following us like a little creep, weren't you? Well, this is what I think of creepers!" Antonio moved to fling it against the wall. Lovino dashed towards him and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"ANTONIO! STOP! You... you're scaring me."

Antonio seemed to tense, and then slowly relaxed in Lovino's arms. He carefully put the head down and let out a shaky breath. "W-we should get out of here." Lovino nodded into Antonio's back and the two of them bolted from the room. Once outside, Antonio slid down and curled into a silent ball.

"Bastard, what the _hell_ was that?! You just flipped your shit over a stupid head!" Antonio curled up even tighter and began muttering apologies into his knees. Lovino crouched down in front of him. "Stop apologising! You got freaked out, I get it. You're afraid of the dark, I get it. But what the fuck happened with that head?! Do you have a fucking spilt personality or something!?"

"My friends and family say I turn into a completely different person when I'm mad, so… Kinda? I'm so, so sor–"

Lovino held up a hand. "Stop fucking saying you're sorry. I _get_ it, okay?"

"Sorry."

"_Goddammit Antonio!"_

"Sorry."

There was a beat of silence before they both burst into a fit of laughter. After about a minute, Lovino stood up and held out a hand. "Let's keep looking."

Antonio took his hand. "I think there's a room over there we haven't tried yet." They walked over and pushed the door open easily. The moment he set foot into that room, Lovino's face drained of all colour.

"Fratello?"

**That end bit is literally how me and my friend are. I'm Antonio and she's Lovino. Anyway, merry Christmas every one! Hope it's a good one!**


	11. Paintings

**Hellos my dear lambs :) (...I've been watching way too much Ouran) I hope you all had a nice Christmas (or if you don't celebrate it, had a nice whatever doesn't offend) **

**Disclaimer: Nope  
**

"Hmm?" Antonio glanced back at Lovino. "Lovi, did you say something?" Lovino stretched out a shaking finger and pointed across the room. Antonio followed it with his eyes, past an ornamental couch and focused on a wall length painting of a boy in his early teens that looked strikingly similar to Lovino. "Lovi, what's a painting of you doing in here? It's really good!"

Lovino shook his head numbly. "Fe... Fel..."

"Fell? A guy called Fell did this? He's a really good artist!"

Lovino forced the name past trembling lips. "Fe...Feliciano. My... My stupid little brother who dragged me here today."

Antonio's head turned to stare at Lovino and the painting in turn. "Oh yeah! He looks like you, but not enough like you to actually be you, y'know? But what's a painting of your brother doing here?"

Lovino ignored him as he crossed the room to brush his fingers against his brother's painted hands. Antonio grabbed Lovino's shoulders and pulled him to the couch, interrupting the stream of disjointed, worried sounding Italian words issuing from Lovino's mouth.

"Lovi, Lovi, sit down please. You've got to keep it together." He pulled Lovino's face towards him. "You won't be able to help Feliciano if you fall to pieces. We'll find him, and he'll be fine and happy and waiting for you. But we have to keep moving forward. Okay?"

Lovino nodded slowly. Antonio smiled brightly. "Good~! You sit tight, okay? I'll look around here for stuff."

Antonio pottered around, looking in the various boxes scattered around the room. Lovino sat, hunched up on the couch and hugging his knees. In a pause as Antonio switched boxes, he heard the lock click softly. He stood up, a deep sense of unease shimmying up and down his back. He tried the door.

Locked.

"Umm... Antonio?" Antonio made a noise of acknowledgment. "Did you lock the door?"

Antonio glanced back. "...no..."

"Well, it's fucking locked now."

Antonio followed him and tugged on the handle. "This isn't good."

"Damn right."

Something snarled loudly behind them. They both turned slowly, praying it wasn't what they thought it was.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

A painting had made a hole in the wall and was slowly advancing towards them. Antonio snatched Lovino's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here!" They vaulted over the couch before the painting could react and scrambled out the hole.

Ever hear the expression, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire"? Well, that was a pretty damn good way of describing the situation they found themselves in. The entire room was swarming with moving paintings. It was truly something out of a nightmare; the kind of nightmare your parents always promised would never come true.

"RUN!"

Lovino began wringing in his hands despairingly. "Where to?"

"There's a door over there! C'mon!" They both sprinted across the room, desperately hoping that the paintings wouldn't catch them and that the door would lead them far away from there.

"No! No! God no! Not now!" They had run into yet another locked door. Lovino stared at the inscription at the side. "'How many paintings of women are there in this room?' How the fuck would we know that!? Fuck, fuck FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Antonio hurriedly typed in a random number. Miracle of miracles, the door creaked open. They dashed in, slammed it shut and continued running, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and that hellish room.

Antonio stopped and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. "I think...we're okay...now." He chuckled breathlessly. "We sure showed them! Didn't we, Lovi?" When Lovino didn't respond, Antonio glanced over at him. "Lovi?" Lovino was still standing in the middle of the hall staring at the ground, swaying slightly. "Lovi? Lovi!"

Antonio dashed forward as Lovino collapsed into his arms. He sank to his knees, cradling Lovino's still form. He brushed a few stray strands of hair out of Lovino's closed eyes. "Lovi? Mi Lovinito?"

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Ja!  
**

**-Animerockchic  
**


	12. Tears and Fears

**...Um hi... It'a been a while huh? I'm sorry, school and life are unrelenting bitches. And... please don't hate me for this.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own.**

Lovino sat up, rubbing his head. A blazing headache worthy of a hangover from hell was pulsing against his skull. Not that he knew what a hangover felt like; oh no, it was _Feliciano_ who'd drunk his body weight in champagne, thinking it was 'pretty fizzy water' at their aunt's wedding six years ago, not him. He opened his eyes.

Where the fuck was Antonio? He was sitting a room that a child with ADHD and a bucket of paint must have decorated, a room with a single door and no Spanish bastard in sight. "Oi, bastard! Where are you?"

What sounded like a muffled answering call came from beyond the closed door. Slowly, Lovino stood up, grumbling about stupid bastards who wander off on their own and walked into the next room. He'd... walked into almost the exactly the same room. He glanced back to compare the two door had completely vanished in the time it had taken him to walk a few 's voice called him again beyond the closed door.

"Where the fuck are you, bastard? This isn't funny!" Lovino pushed the door open with a sigh. He was really getting sick of this shit.

"Oh, hello! What's your name? I'm Antonio."

Lovino froze as Antonio's voice reverberated, sounding ever closer – just beyond the door, he thought.

"Hi~! I'm Feliciano."

Lovino raced across the room to the door. He slammed himself against the door, trying to open it. Fucking locked. He started banging frantically on the dark wood. "Antonio! Fratello! I'm in here! Open the fucking door!"

"So, are you waiting for anyone?"

"Nope~ Just wandering all on my lonesome. Can I come along with you?"

"Sure~! Let's go, Feli~!"

A hurt shriek ripped itself free from Lovino's throat. "_No!_ I'm in here! Don't leave!"

"Aw Feli, you're just so cute~! Oo! Look at that!"

What felt like a shard of ice pierced through Lovino's body. "No. You can't leave. Don't leave me here alone." A drop of salt water splashed against his shoe, followed by another and another. The sound of their voices started to fade away, leaving him alone.

Suddenly every single hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. Lovino squeezed his eyes shut, more tears oozing from behind his eyelids. There was something behind him. If he turned around, he would die in that room by its hand. He cautiously opened one eye a fraction and glanced back. Lovino screamed.

"Lovi! Calm down! It's okay, it's just a dream!"

Lovino's eyes snapped open. Which was a big fucking help since all he could see was dark fabric. He felt the arms of whoever he was clinging to tighten around him and rub soothing circles into his back.

"Shh. I'm here, it's okay, Lovi. I won't let anything hurt you. I'm not gonna leave." Antonio twisted his hand to link his pinkie with Lovino's. "I promise."A watery chuckle emanated from the damp patch on Antonio's shirt. He moved his hand up to stroke Lovino's soft brown hair."Wanna...tell me what happened?"

Antonio could feel Lovino's entire body vibrate in a sob. "You... y-you forgot me, b-bastard. You w-went off with F-F-Feliciano and left me..."

Antonio took Lovino by the armpits and hauled him up to leaned in and pressed his forehead to Lovino's blotchy red one."I would never do that to you Lovino. I don't care how amazing Feliciano might be – or anyone else for that matter. I'll always pick you."

A small smile began to creep across Lovino's face. "You mean that? You're not just fucking saying that?"

Antonio's thumb began tracing loopy trails across the steadily darkening skin of Lovino's cheek. "I wouldn't lie to you. You really do come first for me."

Lovino's breath hitched slightly, he glanced up shyly to meet Antonio's eyes. "Really?"

Antonio smiled and nuzzled his nose against Lovino's. "Really really."

Back went Lovino's head to escape Antonio's oncoming nuzzle, a few seconds too late. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I get really disgustingly snotty when I cry." His hands darted to his pockets. "And fucking typical me. I don't have a single shitty tissue on me."

Antonio rummaged around in his sleeve the dramatically drew out a square of white with a flourish.

"Tada~!"He began wiping Lovino's cheeks and face, cleaning away the sad."Y'know, you really do look so cute. The prettiest work of art in the museum~!"

Lovino smiled and closed his eyes as the tissue dabbed them again. "Even though I'm all snotty?"

"Even though you're all snotty."

For what felt like the billionth time that day, Lovino beamed. He felt the tissue pull away from his face.

"Your smile is so pretty, you should do it more often."

Lovino scoffed. "Dun _wanna_ do it all fucking day. Nothing can make me."

"You're been smiling a lot around me."

"You make me smile... Y-y-y-y-y-y your stupid bastardness, I- I mean. Your f-face. I can't not smile when I see your stupid face." Lovino poked Antonio's cheek. "You've got a face that doesn't look right when there's no smile. Your dumb smile makes me smile."

The grinthe broke across Antonio's face genuinely put the sun to shame. He dived for Lovino, practically crushing bones with the force of the hug. "Que mono! I actually love you."

Lovino tensed. Antonio froze and slowly released Lovino from the hug. He ducked his head slightly, curls partially obscuring his eyes."I...I mean, I just... forget what I said... I-I-if you want to, I mean..."

Lovino's mind had gone completely blank. _'Antonio... loves me? But he can't! H-he shouldn't! Fuck, does he mean as a friend or...? Crap! Wait, what do I think of him? I don't really hate him. I feel better and happier around him but that can't mean... does it? It can't! ...Can it? Shit, he's looking for an answer! C'mon brain, work for fucking once!" _

"I...umm... well... I..." Lovino cleared his throat. Green eyes peeked out hopefully from behind curly locks. "I t-think I sorta... l-l-like you...ish, b-but I..." Ah, fuck. Therewent his cheeks, siren red again. "I don't know if..."

Antonio smiled, not as brightly as before Lovino noted with a painful cringe. "That's okay. Lovi likes me so that's enough for now. OH! I almost forgot." He carefully took out Lovino's daisy and tucked it behind Lovino's ear. "You dropped this." Lovino took it back. "So~? Should we get going?"

Lovino nodded and pushed himself to his feet. And then fell right back down again as his legs refused to support his weight. "Maybe we should stay here a little while longer. Unless you want to fucking carry me."

Antonio flung himself down beside Lovino. "Already did. You're not as light as you look."

"...I can't tell if you're calling me fat or saying I look scrawny." Lovino let out an enormous yawn that nearly cracked his jaw. Antonio edged away slightly.

"I...I'll go over here and let you sleep."

"Um...Actually?" Lovino's eyes ducked down to examine the hem of his jeans and Antonio stared at him. "C-could you...stay beside me? I-I don't get nightmares when there's someone beside me."

There was a moment's silence as Antonio shuffled back to Lovino. Lovino let his head and eyelids droop, his head landing on Antonio's shoulder. Just before he succumbed to sleep, he could have sworn he felt something soft press against his cheek.

"Sleep well, mi Lovi."

**Que mono - how cute (literally how like a little monkey you are... well something along those lines)  
**

**Oh and does anyone have a tumblr? Mine's animerockchic. (I'm so creative with names, ain't I)**

**Ja!**

**-Animerockchic**


	13. Well, this is interesting

**Haigh guys :) Hope you enjoyed the 14th, whether it was Valentine's or Thursday. And I hope you're all enjoying The Beautiful World. I know I am :)**

**Disclaimer: No own Hetalia:)**

You know it's a weird day when you wake up with a se...very, very, _very_ mildly good looking Spanish guy snoring and drooling on your shoulder – and when that isn't even the strangest part of your day. Lovino lifted Antonio's lolling head carefully, trying to keep him in the depths of sleep. He shuffled away slightly. Antonio's arms sprung around his chest, caging him in.

"Mmm... Lovi, so warm and cuddly." Antonio snuggled against Lovino's cheek. "I shall call you Lovi and you will be mine and you will be my Lovi."

Lovino facepalmed. "Fuck. Give. Me. Strength." Did this guy have fucking suction cups on his arms?! Was he part octopus?! Fucking fuck! Lovino wiggled and squirmed the best he could, prising Antonio's hands off, finger by finger.

Once free of the leech-like hold, Lovino stood up, dusted himself down and began examining his surroundings. It was another random little library. Guess this Guertena guy liked art and reading. Who knew? He pulled a book out at random. Well, Antonio wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, so he might as well read to kill some time. He opened the book.

Fuck. Just like everything else in this place, the fucking book was in Spanish. He flicked forward a few pages, trying to make sense of it.

"Lovi?" A bleary-eyed Antonio yawned widely and smiled up at him. "Whatcha doing?"

Lovino held up the wallpaper-covered book. "Trying to read. I'm only getting bits and pieces, though; it's in Spanish." He passed it to Antonio. The longer Antonio stared at the page, the redder his face became. He slammed the book shut, jumped to his feet and replaced the book on its shelf.

"Bastard, what the hell was that about?"

Antonio shook his head. "Don't read that kind of thing until you're older."

Lovino opened his mouth, then closed it and facepalmed. "I don't even want to know." He glanced at Antonio. "Was it that bad?"

Antonio shook his head in disgust. "Worse."

Lovino shuddered. "Oh God. Should we...can we just go? You ready?"

Antonio gave the shelf one last disdainful look. "Yeah, let's go."

There was a distinct air of awkwardness between them as they left the safe-feeling room. It was as though something had been irreversibly changed between them – a lid opened that could never be closed and resealed. Antonio seemed determined to avoid Lovino's eye, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, as far away as possible from Lovino's. Guilt rose like bile in Lovino's throat. He bit down on his lip. "Antonio, I..."

Before he could say any more, Antonio moved away to examine and perfectly white painting. "Hey it's a jigsaw! I love jigsaws~!"

Lovino also stared at it. "I think it's a milk painting. All the pieces are the colour of milk, so you just fucking shove 'em all together and hope it works."

Antonio just continued examining the painting.

"Listen Antonio, I just..."

Antonio cut in over him, pointing further down the hall. "Look, there's a door!"

'_Alright, I hear you loud and clear. You don't want to fucking talk about it. I get it.'_ Lovino buried what he'd wanted to say to Antonio and followed him to the door. They both inspected the inscription beside the door.

"What is the name of the floor painting in the main room of the Museum? '_Blank'_ of the Deep."

Lovino closed his eyes, thinking hard. That painting was the massive shark one that he had stepped into. Kinda like that girl in that book and film... 'cept it was a rabbit hole she fell down. And she had that mad hat guy and a nutcase of a hare with her and... Damn, he had a short attention span. Okay. Back to the shark painting. Lovino screwed up his face in thought. It had started with a word he couldn't understand, then "of the Deep". ...Well, that was about as helpful as a cocktail umbrella in a shitstorm. It could be one of the literally millions of Spanish words he didn't understand. He stared hard at the question and the three options below it. He understood the first two of them – so that must mean that the third one was the right answer! He pressed the button beside it and the door slid silently open.

"Yay~! Lovi's smart! What's the painting called?"

Lovino pointed at his answer. "Whatever the hell that is."

"So it's... Abyss of the Deep."

"I guess. Let's get going."

They wandered further along the corridor before freezing in horror. A trail of bloody footprints continued down the hall in front of them. "S-s-s-should we follow them?"

Lovino swallowed. "It's either that or go back."

So follow them they did (albeit tentatively) until they reached another closed door. They pushed it open.

"Hello."

Lovino screamed and ducked behind Antonio.

***GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASP* WHO COULD THIS BE?! I'll let ye guess. Let's see who might know. I offer prize~ :)**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Ja!**

**-Animerockchic**


	14. Blue, Bunnies, BASTARD!

**...Hello there my lambs :) I just had a thought recently. I just post this crap for on this site for the criac, for the fun of it. AND YOU GUYS FUCKING READ IT! NO ONE LIKE MAKES YOU READ IT, YOU CHOSE TO READ IT AND TO TELL ME YOU LIKED IT HOLY CRAPM NATHNCN AKJLVATGLLAG I LOVE YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! *smoothers you all in hugs and chocolate bars* Just letting you know. By the way, no one guessed correctly who it was last chapter so ...yeah.**

**Disclaimer: THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUNDS OF THE STUFF I DON'T OWN!**

Antonio waved at the girl. "Hi there!"

The girl tucked her platinum blonde hair behind her ears and smoothed over her royal blue skirt. "Are you two from the museum?"

Antonio nodded, smiling. "We got stuck here, too. We're looking for a way out. Want to come with us? Safety in numbers~!"

The girl nodded. "Yes, please. My name is Natalya."

"I'm Antonio and the cute little sour-puss is Lovino."

That earned him a firm punch to the arm. "You suck, bastard."

Natalya eyed them with a slightly detached stare. "Do you two have flowers?" Antonio and Lovino nodded and took out their flowers. Out of a skirt pocket Natalya pulled a small blue-petaled flower. "Mine's a flax plant. It's the national flower of Belarus. It's pretty, but I prefer yours." She nodded towards Antonio's carnation. "Red is my favourite colour."

Antonio quickly shoved his flower back into his pocket. "Okay then. Let's go~!" They continued walking along. Antonio attempted to strike up a conversation with Natalya. "So where are you from? Your accent's kinda cool."

"I am Belarusian."

"Oh that's cool. ...Where's that?"

Something about this girl didn't sit quite right with Lovino. She just... there was something about her that just wasn't... normal. Not that Antonio was anything like normal either but he was a good not-normal and...

DAMMIT LOVINO, FOCUS!

He lightly slapped himself in the face, trying to bring himself back to the present. Silence had descended once more on the group, only this time it was uncomfortable to the point of oppressiveness. The hall split into in front of them. Natalya pointed down the left fork.

"We go down this way, da."

It didn't sound like it was up for discussion so they continued to follow her like obedient ducklings. She led them into a small room filled with books and bunnies.

"Bunnies~!" Antonio skipped around, looking at the pink and white ceramic bunnies.

"How fucking old are you?!" Lovino examined one of the bunnies. "And why is this one mint green? A fucking mint bunny."

Natalya and Antonio turned at the sound of something smashing. Shards of green scattered themselves at Lovino's feet. "Don't look at me like that! It fucking _jumped_!"

Natalya said nothing, but walked forward and pulled a key from the shattered remains of the mint bunny. "I think we will be needing this." She tucked it into a pocket of her skirt and turned back to the two boys. "We shall go, da?"

They both nodded. Antonio hesitated just as they left the room.

"Hang on; I think I dropped my flower. You two go on ahead." Lovino and Natalya had only taken a few steps when thick stone vines sprung up from the floor, leaving Antonio trapped on one side and Lovino and Natalya on the other.

"Antonio! Dammit!"

Antonio waved Lovino's exclamations away. "Relax Lovi, it's fine. You two go on ahead. I'll figure a way out and catch up. Promise~!"

Natalya grabbed Lovino's wrist. Her fingers were cold and bony on his skin.

"Let us go, Lovino. He will be fine."

Natalya led Lovino forcefully back down the hall. Lovino glanced back over his shoulder and fluttered his fingers at Antonio. Antonio beamed and waved back cheerily. With a slight twitch of his mouth, Lovino nodded.

'_Please be okay. Please let me get back to you in one piece.'_

***wiggles happily* Hope you all enjoyed and to my Irish readers, hope you enjoy Seachtain na Gaelige (even though it's two weeks long). Is aobhinn liom sibh, o dhubh go dubh, is aoibhinn liom gach duine a labhraionn mo scealta (sorry, in a bit of an Irish mood)**

**Ja!**

**-Animerockchic**


	15. Okay, now I'm freaked

**hey guys :) Happy St Patrick's day and Happy Birthday to the Italy bros~! Hope you enjoy whatever you're doing :) And sorry about the shortness of the chapter, I promise the next one is longer.**

**Disclaimer:I don't own Hetalia**

Natalya brought Lovino down the right fork in the corridor, maintaining an icy grip on his arm. "Antonio, who is he to you? Your brother?"

Lovino let out a half laugh. "Hardly. We only met today, yet he acts like we've fucking known each other for years. He's an idiot."

Natalya extracted the key from her pocket and unlocked the door in front of her. She released Lovino who massaged his wrist carefully, already feeling bruises blossoming under the skin. He followed Natalya into a box filled storage room, really hoping she wouldn't grab him again.

Natalya was rooting around in boxes. For what, though, Lovino had no idea. He lifted the cardboard lid of the box nearest him. Paint. Tubes and tubes of the stuff. From your run of the mill primary colours to holy-crap-want-because-of-reasons-mainly-because-I-will-never-produce-such-an-amazing-colour-holy-shit-want-want-want colours. As he reached into the box, he caught sight of a gleam of metal out of the corner of his eye.

Natalya was lovingly caressing a wickedly sharp paint scraper. She glanced up to meet Lovino's terrified face.

"What?" She slid the blade into yet another pocket of the skirt. How many pockets did she have in that thing?! "We may need protection. I feel safer with this."

'_Well I fucking don't! I'm with a knife-wielding... freaky chick!'_

She beckoned him towards another door. "Let us keep going."

"Shouldn't we go back and check on the Tom... Antonio?"

"No, he will be fine. We must keep going."

Lovino started towards the way back door. "I really think we should..."

Natalya cut him off brusquely. "I don't think we should. We keep going. He will meet up with us later. We go now." Her voice left no room for argument, so go on they did.

"Tell me, Lovino. Are you looking forward to getting out?"

What the hell was with this girl and questions? Lovino scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, who wouldn't want out of this nuthouse?"

"What if one of us couldn't get out?" Lovino could have sworn her hand moved to the pocket that held the paint scraper. "What if only two of us could escape?"

"I..." He gulped audibly. "I don't know. I mean, I didn't really think like that. Damn. But I don't think that's going to happen. We're all going to get out. You'll see."

Natalya's hand flexed and moved slowly away from the pocket. She glanced back, one corner of her mouth twitching madly.

"I hope you are right Lovino. We shall keep going, yes?"

The next room was split in two with a gap in the middle too wide to jump. Lovino crouched down and stared down the gap. "This looks deep as hell. Fuck, how're we meant to get across?" He shuffled back a bit, his fingers brushing against a carnation intricately engraved into the floor.

'_Antonio, you had fucking better be okay.' _

**I probably won't be updating next week because of No Name and my birthday (the 25th) But I will update as soon as I can**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Ja!**

**-Animerockchic**


	16. Fear for both of us

**Hi everyone~! I have returned :) And I have been swamped by Sherlock feels (I bought myself series 1 and 2 on DVD for my birthday) AND IT DOESN'T HELP THAT EVEN WHEN SERIES 3 DOES COME OUT I PROBABLY CAN'T WATCH IT BECAUSE I CAN'T GET BBC 1 OR 2. *sulks on a couch* ****  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or Ib or Sherlock or anything really.**

Antonio exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of his head. The vines were not budging at all. _At all_. Lovino and Natalya's footsteps had long since faded away, leaving behind only an empty echoing space. It was scary how quiet everything seemed without the shorter Italian's presence at his side. Can you get used to someone in such a short space of time? It certainly had felt less scary with Lovino beside him. Antonio headed back into the bunny room, hoping for another way out.

"EEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Yeah, it wasn't a bunny room no more. More like freaky red-eyed golliwog dolls room now. And every single one of them was staring right at him. Well this was freaky. He'd liked the bunnies – why did they have to go and turn into scary things? He crossed over to the bookcase, the only surface free from bunnies-turned-freaky-dolls. He must have pressed something or nudged it in some way because it slid silently across, revealing a gaping hole in the wall. He gulped as his eyes took in the yawning darkness. He mentally shook himself; no, he had to be brave. Be brave for Lovi. He inhaled deeply and ducked into the passage. Scurrying quickly, he reached the other end without anything jumping out at him.

He straightened his back and took in his surroundings. To his left were two doors but more importantly, five ropes dangled in front of him. He reached out and tugged on the first.

Suddenly it was raining mannequin heads! Antonio shrieked and yanked the cord again. The deluge of china shattered into silence. He gulped down massive lungfuls of air, one after another, trying to steady his madly fluttering heart. He stepped away from the rope, carefully avoiding the sharp shards littering the floor.

"Okay. Not pulling that one again." He reached out for the second one. "Maybe this'll do something good." He pulled hard.

Nada. Nothing. As Lovi would say, _fuck all_. Not one thing happened in the little room. Antonio quickly moved over to the third rope.

Of all the things he'd thought it could be, the last thing Antonio was expecting was the stupid light switch. He turned the lights back on as fast as humanly possible. He slumped against the wall, drawing in shaky breath after shaky breath through clenched teeth. It actually wasn't funny how much he wished Lovino was with him at that moment. He tucked his thumb into his fist, pretending it was Lovino's hand in his. He trapped his lower lip between his teeth.

Lovino had been trying to tell him something before they'd met up with Natalya. And he... he'd refused to listen. He was... scared. Scared of a complete rejection. He'd crossed a line as it was; he didn't want to lose Lovino completely. It was selfish, so selfish but...

"I'll lose him anyway if I don't keep going." Having regained his nerve, Antonio pushed himself upright. "Alright then~! Time to get back to Lovi!"

He ignored the last two ropes and hummed his way through the room before coming face to face with the two doors. He pulled a coin out of his pocket and flipped it. "Heads for left, tails for right." He caught the spinning coin and slapped it down onto the back of his other hand. He lifted his hand. A small harp winked up at him. "Right it is then~!"

He walked into a considerably darker corridor. Antonio gulped; this place was really, really horrible. "No." He set his jaw firmly. "I have to be brave. For Lovi."

Something glittered red at his feet. He blinked and crouched to look at the freaky doll on the floor, its red eyes shining dully in the gloom. He took hold of the doll, squeezing its stomach slightly.

"Wanna play with me?"

Antonio leapt away from the speaking doll, a river of "Nope!" flowing from his mouth. He backed away as quickly as physically possible. His heel nudged against something soft.

"I know lots of good games. C'mon, let's play!"

Antonio shook his head violently and began running. A cacophony of little doll voices followed, becoming increasingly insistent.

"C'mon Tonio, play with me!"

"Let's play together forever!"

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"Do you not like me?"

"Am I not good enough?"

"Play with me, play with me, PLAY WITH ME!"

Antonio continued running, slamming his hands over his ears. "Stop, stop, stop! I don't want to hear this! STOP! GO AWAY!"

He stumbled though the door at the end, slammed it shut and slumped down in a loose ball. He breathed slowly and deeply, forehead resting on his folded arms and between his legs. His ears continued to ring, still echoing with the sound of the doll's cries. He rubbed them frantically and pressed his palms hard against them, trying to block out the sound from the outside. He glanced up, resting his head on his knees. Right in front of him, etched into the floor was a daisy. A cute little daisy. Antonio smiled despite himself.

"...Lovi."

**Challenge time~! Antonio uses a euro coin in this chapter. Whoever can figure out what country the euro's from first gets a prize~! (Each euro-using country has an indivdual marking on one side, for example I have Italian, Spanish, Belgian and Irish coins in my pocket right now) :) Thanks for reading**

**Ja!**

**-Animerockchic**


	17. Heads, Hawaiian and AW HELL!

**Heyo, it's been over a month and I'm really really sorry. But yeah school and summer exams on the horizon. On the plus side, I'll be off school by the 1st of June. AND I MIGHT HAVE WORK! FUCK YEAH, I WILL EARN MONEY FOR MAKING TEA AND WAITING OUTSIDE AN EXAM CENTRE! And the coin from the previous chapter was an Irish euro~! en. wikipedia wiki / File:2_euro_coins . JPG There's an example of the backs of the 2 euro coins. And the winner was BlueStar1937 for guessing first. Your prize is in the making but it may take a while.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or Ib or anything**

Lovino sighed, chewing thoughtfully on the side of his thumb. "Well fuck. What do we do now?" He glanced up at Natalya. "Any ideas? I'm fresh out."

She pointed across the gap. "We could use that."

"Wait, use what?" Lovino glanced back. Sure enough, a painting slowly lowered itself down across the gap, forming a bridge. Lovino stood up, dusting down his knees. "D'you think it's safe?" Natalya didn't reply but strode purposefully across the painting to the other side. Lovino scowled. "I'll take that as a fucking yes."

He followed her across feeling the painted eyes staring up at him from their green paint background. ...Did they look up Natalya's skirt too? Fucking pervy painted eyes. He followed her into the next room with slight trepidation. Upon catching up, she snatched his wrist and hauled him through one large room to a smaller side room. Filled with more. _Fucking._ _Mannequin._ _Heads._ Natalya gripped his wrist tight then released him to examine the heads. Lovino quietly swore at the staring heads, their stupid clown-like faces were pissing him off more than scaring him at this point. Lovino's head whipped around at the sound of smashing china.

Natalya had thrown one of the heads to the ground for _no fucking reason_. She pulled a key from the wreckage and waved it at him. "We may need this key."

"How the hell did you know that was even there?!" This girl was both getting on his last nerve and creeping him out enormously at the same time. She always seemed to know exactly what to do and where to go. Like she'd done this all before. And would it kill her to answer a fucking question or two?! "Hey, Natalya, how did you get stuck in here?"

Natalya flinched in surprise. "Sorry?"

Lovino followed her out of the room. "Were you in the museum by yourself or with family or friends or...?"

"I...uhh..." Natalya's blank expression flicked slightly. "I was... with my big brother and sister. I don't know what happened to them or where they are now."

"Oh..." _Well done, Lovino, you've stuck your fucking massive foot in it this time._ "Sorry. They're probably okay though. Like my little brother. ...And his stupid potato bastard of a boyfriend. They'll be okay and waiting for us when we get out. Y'know, ohana and all that shit."

"Ohana?" Natalya tilted her head in confusion.

"It was in this film my whole family ends up watching on shitty days. Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family and according to the film, 'Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten.' Kinda sweet but kinda gay at the same time. Like Antonio."

Natalya nodded, mouth twitching frantically. "I suppose... that's quite a good way to describe him. Shall we go into new room? This one?"

As he followed her, Lovino couldn't help but feel a shiver raise the hairs on the back of his neck. Someone walking over his grave, if you believed his nonna. And it felt an awful lot like Natalya's footsteps. Despite that fact that he was warming up to her slightly, the girl still made him uneasy. Not just because of the freaking paint scraper but... there was something about her that didn't feel... right. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was there.

'_I want Antonio.'_

WOAH! BACK UP! BACK THE FUCK UP!

Aw _hell_, who was he kidding? He wanted Antonio back more than ever now. Maybe now he could actually –

"Lovino, you are like snow. Are you afraid?"

Lovino blinked rapidly. "Yeah... I mean no! I mean... fuck, I was just thinking about stuff."

"Then come on." She grabbed his arm again. (Would she stop fucking doing that already!?) She led him into yet another room directly opposite the one they had just vacated.

Had they just walked into a Kansas scene in the fucking Wizard of Oz or something?! There was absolutely no colour whatsoever in there. Everything, the walls, the floor, a painting of a rainbow on a scrap of canvas, even he and Natalya, had faded to grey. Suddenly, as though a light had been switched on, the yellow part of the rainbow became filled in and everything any shade of that colour shone brightly once more from Natalya's hair to the doodled Pacman on his Converse. (Shut up, Feliciano got at them with a Sharpie.) Lovino smirked. He had a feeling Antonio had something to do with this. _Damn bastard, hurry up!_

**So I hope you all enjoyed~!**

**Ja!**

**-Animerockchic**


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